News from the National Finals
By Paul Russel, Director, Reach For The Top Inc.This year, Provincial Champions traveled by plane, train and car from across Canada to gather in Toronto on Saturday, May 23, 2009. We were especially pleased to have a school from Saskatchewan join us at the National Finals. The province was represented by Carpenter High School from Meadow Lake. We hope to see Saskatchewan represented every year from now on.
After registration on Saturday, a full round-robin tournament was conducted in the classrooms of University of Toronto Schools. We were fortunate to have these articulate and patient readers for the tournament: Mitch Boyle, Hans Budgey, Jon Gale, Jason Himsl, Carol Pierce and Luke Stark.
On Sunday, the National Finals series of 12 games began. Eleven of these were played in the auditorium of University of Toronto Schools, with an enthusiastic audience. The duties of quizmaster were undertaken by Nova Scotia Co-ordinator Hans Budgey and Editorial Producer Richard Koo. Our thanks to these two rapid-fire experts and to our ever-alert judges for these games, Patricia Beecham-Cooper and Ravi Lall. Thanks also to UTS, our host school, and to Fraser Simpson, the coach of the UTS team, for making us welcome.
The twelfth game, the National Championship event, was taped for broadcast by TVOntario, directed by Sidney Cohen, with the crisply elegant Nicole Stamp as host.
Following the final game, a Gala Dinner was held at the Old Spaghetti Factory in the historic district of Old Town Toronto. Medals and prizes were presented by our lively MC, Richard Koo, and beaming winning faces from across the country were captured by flashing cameras.
The announcement of the “Dream Team” of four MVP’s, as selected by a panel of Reach production staff, was the highlight of the evening. Each of these students was awarded a bursary, courtesy of former Reach player Dr. John Wojcik and his wife Diane.
MVPs (left to right): Nick Manuel (Kennebecasis Valley H.S., NB); Jenny Gu (University of Toronto Schools, ON); Peter Rau (Cobequid Education Centre, NS); Max Trower (London Central S.S., ON).
Reach For The Top / Schoolreach